Can I buy a RIGHT HAND DRIVE BOXSTER in the US?

[lejolierogue]

Dear Enthusiasts,

Does anyone know if I can buy a right-hand drive boxster in the US and if so, where? I'm looking to move to a country that drives on the other side of the road (and also a country that sells 1997's for USD 50K because of its steep import car duties...)

Please advise and thanks in advance.

[Gougoushu]

Sorry I don't know of one, but I am curious ... wouldn't you have to pay those import duties anyway as to the single car? Or will you disassemble it into a few containers of other stuff?

[SeanZ4]

I was thinking the same thing. I think you pay those dues regardless of who you are bringing it in. I was in Ireland a couple of years ago and I saw what they were selling used Z4s for. I had one at the time and for a minute I thought... I'm going to box it up and bring it over here (Ireland). Then after a little research I found that to not be a very practical thing to do. What country are you moving to?

[Bruce Wayne]

I shipped back one of my convertible BMW's from the states when i relocated back to the UK full time, it's a LHD, but doesnt bother me too much as we have property in the south of france.

when i shipped it back, left coast to the UK it cost 2,000 bucks in shipping, along with the contents and furniture of an apartment, there was no import duty as the car had been owned by me (well my company) for three years prior to shipping.

if you are looking at shipping a car back you need to own it for a specified time before shipping or you will get hit on import duty. i dont recall what the time period is.

the next thing is in the US you dont have a requirement for rear fog lights, so you will either need to have an additional light mounted on the rear and an iluminated switch on the dash.

as mine is left hand drive, i had to replace the headlights as the beam pattern is different between countries (LHD/RHD), managed to purchase the front and rear foglight switch unit to replace the front only fog switch unit and have the wiring modified to activate the rear fog lights in light cluster.

NB. some manufacturers have use different wiring looms depending on the manufacturing location (where the factory it came from is) and the destination market place for that specific vehicle, so bear that in mind.

[Gougoushu]

This month's LA Dismantlers email tells the story of a guy who wanted a GT3 in Columbia, but didn't want to pay the duty, taxes and various unknown "fees" he would confront, so he imported parts that allowed him to "convert" his 996 to an erzatz GT3.

He would suffer flaming for such a project on the internet, but it opens up a lot of possiblities.